In today’s reading, having gotten Saint Peter’s dance of approval, Dante ascends to the next examination. Hope, in which he is lectured by Saint James, is not mere optimism, but a powerful force that enables us to overcome darkness, despair, and depression: everything Dante faced when exiled. As in his last exam, Dante passes with flying colors, although the sudden appearance of a ray of light leaves him stricken with blindness.

In today’s reading, Dante meets the first of his three examiners. Saint Peter asks Dante what he knows about faith and in what he puts his faith. In true, dry scholastic method, Dante lays out his case perfectly: the ideal pupil. In exhaltation, Saint Peter dances thrice around the student.

In today’s reading, Dante, having passed through the realms of the contemplatives, enjoys the full radiance of Beatrice’s smile. Given a rapturous vision of Christ Triumphant, he is now ready to mount even higher.

In today’s reading, Dante meets St Benedict, prince of the contemplatives. As ever, Benedict has some choice words for the state of the monasteries now. Having met the contemplatives and passed through all seven heavenly spheres, Dante is now ready to move into the fixed stars, but not before he spares a final, pitying glance on the “dirty threshing floor” of the earth.

In today’s reading, Dante surreptitiously advances to the seventh realm of the blessed. Here dwell the spirits of the great spiritual contemplatives. Dante’s 11th century guide, Peter Damiano, instructs him through spiritual physics, all while spinning like a happy dredl.

In today’s reading, Dante is astonished to learn the identities of the saved. Of course, Kings David and Solomon are numbered among the just, but what are we to make of Ripheus, who appears in Virgil’s “Aeneid,” calling himself a Christian? Dante’s amazement at those whom God chooses to save is truly well-voiced.

In Canto 19, the Roman Eagle of Justice speaks. While Dante wishes to know what becomes of those just rulers who do not profess Christ, the Eagle chides him that this is the wrong question. Man cannot work out God’s justice through moral reasoning. Better is it to look to himself and his own deeds, rather than worry about others. Indeed, at the end of times, we will be surprised by how many just pagans are counted among the blessed, especially in light of how many unjust Christians there are.

In today's reading, having been treated to a parade of the great warriors of God, from Joshua to the heroes of the Crusades, Dante ascends to the next rung of Paradise: the sphere of Jupiter. The poet is treated to a fabulous light show of illuminating souls, which then transforms into the body of a great eagle: a symbol of the just and temperate rulers.